Welcome back to a new year of substance abuse prevention in Idaho.  As you may have heard, Benchmark will continue as the state’s substance abuse prevention administrator.  We thank the many of you who voiced your support for us to continue in that role.  We were pleasantly surprised this year to receive over $600,000 more in funding requests than funds were available.  While that made the funding allocation process harder than ever, it indicates a growing awareness in Idaho of the need and importance of working to prevent substance use related problems before they begin.  We are proud to announce that this year, 100% of the SAMHSA Block Grant funded prevention programs will be evidence-based (e.g., Best Practices), putting Idaho at the forefront of the nation in offering proven substance abuse prevention programs delivered by trained prevention professionals.  We thank the prevention provider community for their role in making this possible and we look forward to working together to make a positive difference in the lives of Idaho’s youth, families and communities.

While most things in substance abuse prevention system will continue as they have in recent years, there will be a few changes.  Some of the changes detailed below are in keeping with the changing times, some are new requirements from SAMHSA and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, and some are based on internal and external quality improvement initiatives, including input from the prevention provider community.   As always, if you have questions or concerns, feel free to contact your Benchmark Regional Managers, Prevention Director or by using the Comments link on PreventionIdaho.Net.

Prevention Idaho updates
PreventionIdaho.Net will undergo some updates in the next several months.  Based on suggestions from prevention providers, Benchmark and DHW, these updates will extend the capabilities of PreventionIdaho.Net and improve the user experience.  We’ll keep you informed as the updates occur and welcome your feedback through the Comments link on PreventionIdaho.Net. 

Some the planned updates include:

• Saving user preference for how programs sort on the provider homepage.
• An option to move Completed and Cancelled programs to the bottom of the homepage.
• The ability to print multiple paper attendance sheets at once.
• Finding the missing outcomes report link on the provider reports page.
• Improvements to the ability to combine multiple programs into a single outcomes report.
• Changing the Find Prevention Near You link on the homepage to show summaries of each provider’s offering instead of each of the 720 individual prevention programs offered each year (actual number for SFY 2007).
• Implementing US Census-based population reporting.
• Implementing the Qualified Prevention Professional Program staff Education Transcript System.

New contract elements
There are several changes in the state and in the prevention field that have caused changes to Benchmark’s standard prevention contract.  A detailed What’s New page will accompany the new contracts, but in summary, the new sections include a prohibition on receiving or using alcohol or tobacco industry funding or materials in the delivery of SAMHSA Block Grant funded prevention programs; new language regarding the hiring of illegal aliens, lobbying by funded prevention providers, and the obligation for faith-based to ensure equal access and participation for those of all faiths.

Education Transcript System for the Qualified Prevention Professional Program
Beginning this year, all prevention provider staff receiving contracted funds to deliver or conduct substance abuse prevention services must be listed as active staff on the provider’s Staff page and enrolled in the QPPP Education Transcript System soon to be available on PreventionIdaho.Net.  Although the Education Transcript System is fairly straightforward, Benchmark will develop Education Transcript System training materials and offer technical assistance to help the prevention providers meet this requirement.

Conference call trainings
Benchmark will offer several training conference calls in the upcoming months.  New providers are strongly encouraged to participate in each call.  Staff of existing providers, whether current or new to working with Benchmark, are also welcome to participate.

• DHW Substance Abuse Prevention Program Standards  & Benchmark administrative policies - Including the Criminal History Check and Mandatory Reporting of Abuse policies;
• PreventionIdaho.Net updates - Including the transition to US Census-based population reporting and using the Education Transcript System
• Outcomes survey administration - Including the Parental Consent Policy and survey administration procedures;
• Outcomes interpretation - Using the outcomes process to understand and improve your program.